Tyrone Smith, defending, said Chindamo was left raging that youngsters such as Mr Sexton had the “temerity” to drag up his shameful past. Mr Smith said Chindamo remonstrated with Mr Sexton and then asked his friends to take him away. He claimed Mr Sexton made a gun gesture at Chindamo and his friends.

Far from being a robbery, the young man slipped a £20 note to Chindamo to calm the situation and urged him to “get himself a drink”.

Mr Sexton was on police bail for smashing up a kebab shop in Kilburn, north London, when interviewed about the alleged robbery, the jury was told.

He had drunk 11 pints of snakebite – a mixture of lager and cider – during the night, said Mr Smith.

He asked: “When you are drunk, do you get a little bit lairy?” Mr Sexton replied: “Not really, no.”